Electrically-operated stopping means at railway danger-signals.



PATBNTED MAR. l5, 1904. W. L. ADAMSON. ELFCTIHCALLY OPERATED STOPPINGMEANS AT RAILWAY DANGER SIGNALS. APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 12,1963.

No MODEL.

UNITED STATES Patented March 15, i904. 'Y

PATENT QEEICE.

ELECTRlCALLY-OPERATED STOPPING MEANS AT RAILWAY DANGER-SIGNALS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 754,406, dated March15, 1904.

Appi'itatitn tuta June 12, 1903. SeriaiNo. 161,193. montada.)

p To @ZZ whom, it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM L. AnAMsoN, a

citizen of the-United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county ofPhiladelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Electrically- Operated Stopping Means at RailwayDanger- Signals, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to automatically-op-` erative mechanism incombination with railway-signals for the purpose of preventing the'passing of danger-signals in cases where by sudd en sickness or othercauses of Inattention.`

by the, engineer of a locomotive a block is entered without slackeningspeed while the siglnal indicates the presence of a previous train inthe block, the locomotive being provided with means electricallyoperated whereby the steam is shut oif from the cylinders and the.'train-pipe opened to apply the air-brakes.

Any of the present well-known signal systems Ain which the signal isoperated by pneumatic or hydraulic power may be used by the addition ofcurrent-conductors to a thirdv rail, toy which the circuit is formed bythe action of setting the signal to dangen rlhe usual throttle andengineers brake-valve are not in-f` terfered with, and means areprovided to enable the engineer to break the Contact with Vthe thirdrail at all points on the line when 'signals are set.

Locomotive throttle-levers are usually constructed with means to latchor lock them controlled by the engineers hand as he opens or closes thethrottle, and if death or4=` sudden sickness overtakes him, so that hereleases his hand from the throttlelever at a time when the signal isset against noted by similar characters of reference, in Which- Figure 1is a side elevation of a locomotive with the appliances attached. Fig. 2is a signal, (set at a right angle to Fig. 1,) a semicrosssection of thetrack, the open front of the locomotives smoke-box, showing the positionof the cut-off or intercepting valve in its position relative to thebranch steam-pipes to the cylinders, and a section of the locomotivesframe on line X X, Fig. 1, showing the contactwheel on the third rai-l.Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-section of the valve interposed between thethrottle-valve and the cylinders and by which the ow of steam isstopped. Fig. 4 is avertical cross-section of the valve employed to openthe train-pipe and set the brakes.

Within the track is laid a third rail 1, insulated and preferably havingits top higher than the regular rails 2, of a length sufficient toaccomplish its purpose, and placed opposite the signal.

The signal-stand 3 is of any `form adapted to its work which` has acylinder 4 operated by pneumatic, hydrostatic, or other pressure meansto set the semaphore 5. A conductor 6 from any adequate source ofelectrical energy runs to the stand 3 at a point above cylinder 4, whereit has a terminal 7, opposite which is a terminal 8 of a conductor 9,leading to the third rail 1. Upon the rod 10 of the signal is aninsulated arm 11, having a plate 12 adapted to contact with terminal 7and a plate 13 adapted to contact with plate 8 and form a circuitbetween-conductors 6 and 9 whenever piston 14 is forced up' to'set thesignal, and thereby energize the third rail 1 ready to stop thelocomotive and its train if the engineer has failed to see the signal orhas been suddenly incapacitated from performing his duty. Insularlyattached to the locomotive, preferably to its frame 15, is a stand 16,to which is pivotally supported a rod 17, which has at its lower end acontactwheel 18, rotatably attached thereto and adapt- 9 5 Ioo Fromstand 16 is a horizontally-disposed arm 21, which at ene end is securedto rod 17 to be moved thereby, and at its free outer end it engages aninsulated spring-plate 22, preferably attached to frame 15. An arm 23,with a rod 24, running to the engines cab and having a lever 25 in thecab, is the means whereby the engineer lifts wheel 18 from rail 1 tobreak the circuit if the engine comes to a stop at the third rail.Diierent types and classes of locomotives will necessitate slightmodifications of the attachments to its frame, all of 'which can readilybe made. Attached to spring-contact 22 is a conductor-wire 26, leadingto a solenoid 27, preferably located above the running-board 28 andinsularly attached thereto, or it may be attached to the boilerjacket29. The ground-wire 30 is shown attached to the locomotive-jacket 29;but it may be attached at any convenient point on the locomotive. Thesolenoid operates pole-plate 31 on a rod 32, which at its front end isattached to a lever 33 on a shaft 34, seated in bearings 35 on thesmoke-box 36. Within the smoke-box are upright arms 37, attached attheir upper ends to rods 38, which in turn attach to a yoke 39 of thecut-oif or intercepting valve. This means of construction avoids thesplitting of the exhaust from the cylinders. Within the dome 40 is theusual throttle-pipe 41, in which is located the throttle-valve 42, fromwhich the dry pipe 43 passes forward, as usual, through the fronttube-sheet 44 for its connection to the branch steam-pipes 45. At thejoining of the dry pipe and branch steampipes the T-pipe has Yacylindrical projectionA 46, (see Fig. 3,) from which are openings 47 tothe branch pipes thereto attached,and within the cylinder 46 is thecut-olf or intercepting valve, comprising a cylindrical part 48, with across connection 49, having a central hub 50, through which stem 51 issecured by nuts 52 and acollar 53, the stem at its opposite end passingthrough' a stuffing-box 54 and then united to yoke 39. Cylinder 46 doesnot project far enough into the smoke-box to interfere with the exhaustor the draft through the upper tubes, and the cut-off or interceptingvalve is balanced, it being a hollow open cylinder, and therefore willbe readily and easily moved. As shown, the valve is in its position tostop the engine. When the engineer lifts contact-wheel 18 and breaks thecircuit, the engineer will open the valve by moving forward the rod 55,connected to lever 33, and there will then be a clear course for thesteam to flow through openings 47 to the branch pipes 45.

In Fig. 4 will be seen the valve employed to apply the air-brakes. Itcomprises an outer case 56, to which are connected the horizontaltrain-pipe 57 from the engineers valve 58 and a vertical train-pipe 59,which runs forward to the pilot 60 and having a hose connection 61.Within case 56 is a piston 62, having an upper stem 63 and a lower stem64, by which it is guided, and it is provided with a spring 65, by whichit is held up to cover 66 of the case, the cover being pierced withopenings 67 for air-exit. At the side of lthe case is a lug 68,supportinga bell-crank having an upper arm 69 and a lower arm 70 atright angles to 69. Arm 69 is operated by rod 32', so that when thesolenoid is energized to move rod 32 the'piston 62 will be depressed toal-l low the air to escape through the openings 67. This action will besimultaneous with the shutting oii of the steam. The piston will resumeits seat and prevent air escape when the engineer operates rod 55 toagain admit steam to the cylinders. The brake-valve can, if desired, beplaced below the engineers valve and be operated by extending rod 32back for such purpose. As the appliancesare shown attached to anAmerican Vtype or eightwheeled engine, it may be necessary when aplplying them to Consolidations, Moguls, and other types to somewhat varythe locations and attachments to avoid the various parts of such types;but this can be done within the spirit of this invention withoutdeparting therefrom, as it will involve only mechanical skill ofadaptation.

I claim- 1. The combination of a third rail electrically energized by asignal, with a contact- 'Wheel adapted to ride the rail, a solenoidenergi'zed by the contact of the wheel and rail, and a valve interposedbetween the throttle- Valve and the cylinders of a locomotive andadapted to prevent the iiow of steam to the cylinders when the Wheel andthird rail are in contact.

2. Ihe combination of a third rail electrically energized by a signal, acontact-wheel adapted to ride the rail, a solenoid energized by thecontact of the wheel and rail, an intercepting-valve adapted to stopthe` iiow of steam,anairvalve adapted to release air-pressure while theWheel and rail contacts continue, and means to simultaneously open thesteam-valve and close the air-valve when the contact-wheel is releasedfrom contact with the rail.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM L. ADAMSON.

Witnesses:

RANsoM C, WRIGHT, WILLIAM C. S'roEvER.

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